Chasing Shadows
by Raeinspace
Summary: Based on a prompt/request for an Emma/Graham story. Someone has been entering Gold's warehouse, Graham has been unable to find the culprit so he suggests Emma go on a stakeout.


Emma had pushed her seat back as far as it would go and propped her heels up on the dashboard of the cruiser. She knew Graham would grouch about damaging his shiny car but the stakeout was getting ridiculous. It had been two hours and she wasn't sure anyone would ever turn up. Graham had insisted that the intruder always attempted to break in on Wednesdays. When she questioned why, he told her he didn't know, that the attempted thefts occurred and he had never been able to find out who was responsible. As the building was also a storage space for Mr Gold, he was under pressure from the pawnbroker to ensure the location was secure. Gold didn't trust them enough to let them wait inside the building for the would-be thief. He explained that some of the items were very valuable and if they broke anything he would charge them for it. In the same breath he warned them that if the intruder stole anything and they failed to recover it, he would ensure that the mayor had them both fired for incompetence. All they had to go on so far was one broken window lock, which had allowed the window to be forced open for the first break-in. Since then, Graham had seen a dark figure climbing in through the window each week, but when he climbed through to follow them the room was always empty. As he was stuck waiting in the car for the mysterious person to appear he could never reach them before they climbed inside. Gold swore that the window lock was secure, but each time the intruder never even slowed to open it. There was still nothing missing after four weeks. Now Graham had passed the case to Emma to try and solve.

This wasn't her first stakeout. As a bounty hunter she had spent long hours trailing round suspects favourite haunts, waiting for their weak moment of nostalgia to catch them out. At least then she spent the time in her own car, but Graham insisted that it stood out too much in the small town to be of any use.

She hated the new-smell of the cruiser's interior. From the licence plate the car was supposed to be a couple of decades old, but somehow it barely had a scratch. She had never pictured the Sheriff as someone with OCD, but there was no other explanation for this. Reaching over to the drivers seat - she was sitting in the passenger side knowing that anyone suspicious checking out the car would instantly look at that side first - she grabbed the paper bag. Her fries were cold.

"Stop snacking and pay attention." Graham's voice came over the radio.

Emma calmly picked one out of the bag, munching on it before pressing the button to respond. "When are you coming to take over?"

"You're on your own on this one, Deputy. I have other things to do."

"Really, like what? Practicing your dartboard technique?" Emma helped herself to another couple of fries.

"No, there are other crimes to try and solve in Storybrooke."

Emma laughed. "Nice try, but this is the biggest crime I've heard about since I've been here and according to you the burglar never steals anything. It's probably just some kids playing a prank. Maybe they're daring each other to break in, like an initiation ritual for a gang, after all Gold is pretty scary and doing this proves they're brave."

"Then how are they getting out without me seeing them?"

"Maybe they go back out the window when you're not looking."

"Not possible."

"If you come down here, I can watch the window when you go inside and catch them."

"Can't you do it on your own?"

Emma hunted the bottom of the paper bag without looking for the last few fries. "Nice try, but I want to catch whoever it is tonight. I'm not coming back again next week."

"Fine, I'm on my way, but the car had better not smell like fast food." There was a pause, where Emma thought he was finished, then: "And if your feet are on that dashboard when I get there…."

Laughing, Emma balled up the paper bag and wound down the window of the car. The trashcan was only a foot away. With practiced ease, she tossed it over, fist pumping the air when it went in. The practice at the station was paying off.

* * *

><p>When Graham finally arrived, the passenger chair was pulled forward, Emma was sitting in the driving seat and her feet were on the floor. He managed to open and close the door with minimal sound, slipping into the passenger seat without a word.<p>

"Still no sign of movement. Are you sure you really saw someone before?" Emma asked, keeping her eyes on the target.

"I don't think you're supposed to question your boss."

"Then where are they?"

"Be patient."

"It's been two hours."

Graham laughed. "You really…. Wait, there –that's it!"

Emma sharpened her gaze. She could see the window lifting, the frame not quite as dark as the pane of glass. Graham was opening his door so she opened hers and they moved as quietly as they could over to the building. He motioned for her to go inside while he waited by the window, covering the exit.

Emma didn't bother trying to argue with him. He tossed her the flashlight from his belt and she climbed inside. Switching on the flashlight, she shone it around the room. There were assorted boxes, piled to different heights and glass cases with random objects inside. She'd always thought Gold's shop looked a little cluttered but with all of this tucked away she realised he was probably running out of space.

Carrying out a complete sweep of the room, looking behind each row of boxes and shining the light into each glass cabinet just in case, she concluded that the intruder had once again escaped. Looking out of the window, she found Graham still waiting there.

"There's no-one here."

"That's not possible. No-one left through the window."

"We can switch places if you want."

"I'm coming in. Stay there."

Emma stepped back to give him room to get in. "Flashlight's all yours, I'll guard the window from in here."

"Gold will not be happy if we don't catch this guy."

"Then show me how it's done."

Graham didn't bother to answer. Using the flashlight, he located the light switch for the room and turned it on. He lifted the lid of every box, retracting Emma's steps and still came up empty.

"Told ya." Emma grinned at him, taking another look around as she stepped away from the window.

Graham folded his arms, frowning as he looked around. "Where's the door?"

"What?"

"Gold has to get into this room somehow, but I can't see a door. I never noticed it before. Of course, he never let me in during the daytime so I've only ever seen it when I came looking for the intruder."

"It's over…" Emma stared open-mouthed as she realised that he was right. "Maybe there's a trapdoor or something? It would explain how the thief is getting in and out."

"Start searching."

With Graham's help she pushed boxes around the floor and shifted others away from the walls looking for a door. Nothing.

"Okay, so this is Gold we're dealing with. Maybe he doesn't like anything as obvious as a door. If you were Gold, you'd want to make the place secure. How would you get in and out of this room?"

"And how would the thief know about it?"

"First things first. If we find the door we might still catch them." Emma began tapping on the walls, listening for a hollow sound.

She walked around the room until she came to a glass cabinet they hadn't been able to move. Graham came over to help her give it one more try.

"Must be bolted to the floor or wall."

"Or…" Emma ran her fingers down the glass and around the frames, trying to feel for some kind of catch.

There was a soft click, then a series of further clicking noises as the case swung open. Graham and Emma moved back to avoid it.

"After you." She offered.

"You found it. Ladies first." He passed the flashlight back to her.

Emma went through, letting the light roam down the empty corridor. She stood to the side as she waited for Graham to follow, shining the light under her chin and jumping out at him as he turned to look for her. The scare tactic didn't faze the Sheriff.

"Seriously? No reaction." Emma was annoyed.

He just smiled at her and shrugged. "I don't scare easily."

"Which way? Should we split up and look?"

"No, stick together. We'll try over there first." He pointed to the right of where they had exited.


End file.
